Agencies acting today on CRA, climate rulemakings

Federal agencies today are set to act on Community Reinvestment Act reform and climate risk.

Today’s Developments:

• The Federal Reserve and FDIC have board meetings set for today to finalize interagency rules to modernize CRA regulations.

• Also today, the FDIC will consider an interagency climate risk management framework for large banks.

Background:

• CRA Reform: Regulators in May 2022 issued a CRA modernization proposal designed to adapt CRA regulations to banking industry changes, improve clarity to regulated institutions, tailor evaluations and data collection to bank size and type, and maintain a unified interagency approach.

• Climate Risk: The interagency principles on managing exposures to climate-related financial risks would likely apply to banking organizations with more than $100 billion in total assets.

ICBA Advocacy:

• CRA: ICBA has called on federal banking regulators to issue a uniform CRA final rule that minimizes new data collection and reporting burdens for community banks.

• Climate Risk: ICBA strongly opposes climate risk regulation of community banks and has expressed concerns with agency proposals, including in an American Banker op-ed and congressional statement this year.